


the stars now have landed

by polyamory



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Injury Recovery, M/M, Multi, POV Poe Dameron, Physical Disability, Poe Is Space Royalty, disabled finn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 10:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7571491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyamory/pseuds/polyamory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Finn," his therapist starts. "There's no easy way to say this. Based on what I have seen from your progress and the results of the med team's test we were able to agree on a prognosis for your recovery. I'm sorry, Finn, but it's very unlikely that you'll ever regain full use of your legs."<br/>Silence, so loud Poe swears he can hear the Force move between them.<br/>Then Finn, voice breaking like an impact crater, "How unlikely?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	the stars now have landed

Poe never quite knows how to breach the "hey, I'm royalty on a forest moon" topic so usually he just ... doesn't.

It's not like most people don't already know. Some are old enough that they still knew his parents when they were part of the Alliance, some know from the time when he first came to the resistance and people would call him things like 'your highness' or 'prince' (he had to say it a few times and very firmly, but eventually everyone got the memo that he was just Poe Dameron, pilot extraordinaire).

The rest of them, well, gossip travels fast even in the Resistance.

But even though everyone knows, to some extent or another, nobody ever really says anything about it.

And somehow, in all the excitement of destroying the First Order, anxiously waiting for Rey to return and for Finn to wake up (and later the struggle of trying to seduce Finn) Poe kind of forgets that Finn doesn't know.

It's not even that important, or that fancy. It doesn't have any impact on his life on base so unless Finn ever comes to Yavin 4, it's not like it matters much.

And honestly, he's not really sure how Finn will react. Finn's so new to, well, to being human, his reactions are so different than most people's, not influenced by the same societal norms as most other people Poe interacts with.

(Of course there's a whole nother thing about the norms he  _ was _ influenced by, but Finn doesn't really talk much about his upbringing in the First Order yet, so Poe can't do much more than hope that eventually Finn will be comfortable enough to open up to him.)

So he puts it off, tells himself to wait for the right moment (whenever that may be).

He and Finn spend a lot of time together. At first it's very one-sided because Finn is still sleeping off his injuries. Poe sits with him everyday anyways, as much as he can. He has meetings, of course, and other responsibilities but he eats with Finn three times a day.

"Hey Finn, hello J-4N, how are you today?" Poe greets jauntily as he walks into the medbay with his dinner, but his insides feel cold when he sees how ashen and sweaty Finn looks under the harsh lights.

The medical droid beeps at him and Poe pulls up a grin from somewhere.

"You know how it is," he sighs and J-4N beeps sympathetically before whirring away to look after the other patients.

Poe sinks into the chair next to Finn's bed and drops his tray on the small bedside table. He props his elbows on the bed, looking down at Finn. For a moment he doesn't move, can't look away from Finn's face, so empty without his emotions moving across it in waves, cold without his smile, warming Poe like the sun.

He can't stand it. He grabs for a towel because he needs  _ something _ to do with his hands, starts dabbing at Finn's forehead, his temple, his brow. He dips the towel in water and moves the damp fabric over Finn's skin in broad strokes.

He remembers his grandfather doing this for him when Poe was sick, a distant, feverish memory from before his parents returned to Yavin 4.

"Wake up, Finn, buddy. Come back to me," he whispers.

Finn stays still, silent like a vigil, even though Poe feels like he's the one in mourning.

 

After Finn wakes up everything pretty much stays the same, except the conversation gets a lot better. Poe is with him in his recovery every step of the way, literally. Finn regains his strength gradually, but Poe worries every day that he's pushing himself too hard. He knows though, what drives Finn, the urge inside of him that just won't let him rest, pushes him to get out there and  _ do something. _

One day, after his training, Finn's physiotherapist, Tagru, sits them down to have a talk, twisting a hair tie around her fingers.

Poe can sense something grave coming, something jarring. "Maybe," he says, starting to stand. "I should let you two talk alo – "

"No! Stay." Finn's hand curls around Poe's sleeve, tugging him back down before Poe can even finish his sentence.

"Okay. Okay," Poe reassures him. "I'll stay." He wraps an arm around Finn's shoulder, pulling him close.

"Finn," Tagru starts. "There's no easy way to say this. Based on what I have seen from your progress and the results of the med team's test we were able to agree on a prognosis for your recovery. I'm sorry, Finn, but it's very unlikely that you'll ever regain full use of your legs."

Silence, so loud Poe swears he can hear the Force move between them.

Then Finn, voice breaking like an impact crater, "How unlikely?"

Tagru considers for a moment before answering, and Poe has had enough lessons in diplomacy to recognize when someone is broaching a hard, painful truth.

"Best case scenario, you can walk without trouble, nothing more strenuous like running or jumping, though. Realistically? Walking for short periods of time. Probably slowly, probably with a cane. Most likely a wheelchair will be necessary at least part-time."

Finn sits, not saying a word, but Poe can feel him shaking, a full body shiver that gets stronger and stronger until Finn's hands are shaking like a loose screw in hyperdrive and his breath is coming fast and frantic.

Tagru leaves them, closing the door softly behind herself, assured that Poe can handle this situation. He hopes she's right.

He drops down on his knees before Finn, puts his hands on Finn's knees, a steadying presence, showing him how to be real again.

Finn isn't looking at him, staring down, off, galaxies away and Poe takes Finn's trembling hands in his and guides them to his face. They rest there for a moment, barely a touch, before Finn comes to just enough to press his palm against Poe's cheek, the side of his throat, where Poe's pulse is beating strong.

"It'll be okay, Finn," he whispers when he can speak again. "We'll still be here. You'll get all the help you need."

"But – "

"And you'll still be able to help us." He knows that's what Finn really needs to hear right now, to believe. That he'll still be worth something to the Resistance even if he can't run or jump or kick and shout. "Your knowledge is priceless. And even then, there are so many people here who can't fight but still find a way to fight the fight. You'll see, it'll be okay. It'll all be okay."

 

At first Poe is afraid that Finn might give up, but if anything he doubles his efforts to recover after their talk with Tagru. Poe is overjoyed until Tagru pulls him aside one day.

"He's pushing himself far beyond his limits," she says, lowly and intent. He has to turn his good ear towards her so he can make out her words over the background noise. "I've seen it before, he's denying the truth. He thinks if he can just work hard enough he'll be able to regain his old strength. He won't, Poe. He needs to realize that and soon, he'll be even more crushed the longer he lives with his denial."

"What can I do?"

"There's some people he can talk to, people who've been in his situation. What you can do? Support him. Validate him."

Poe feels useless, utterly useless. He's the best pilot in the galaxy and he still can't help his best friend.

He looks over at Finn, sitting by himself doing his exercises, and realizes Finn must feel even more useless. Maybe it's time Poe actually show him how useful Finn is to the Resistance instead of just telling him.

 

He finds Leia sitting on a bench outside the base, looking out over the lake. She turns to him and smiles, gesturing for him to sit down.

"Poe," she greets.

"Leia." When she first took him under her wing she insisted he call her Leia, instead of 'General' or 'Princess.'

"It's your grandfather's death date soon, isn't it?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's coming up." Poe looks up at the sky where the sun is making its slow descent towards the horizon.

"Will you go?"

"I want to celebrate with them."

"Good. That's good, Poe. Don't forget where you come from," she turns towards him with a smile. "But that's not what you came here to talk about."

"It's about Finn."

"I heard," she says, which he should've expected.

"He needs something to do and – I think he's ready to talk with you."

" _ He  _ will have to decide that but I'm glad you think so. How is he doing otherwise?"

"He's not – I don't think he's handling things so well," Poe says. He doesn't like to talk about Finn behind his back, especially not about something this private, but he's worried and he knows he can trust Leia.

"Would you, if you were in his position?"

He doesn't have an answer to that.

They sit in silence for a moment before Leia starts to get up.

"You'll talk to him, then?" Poe asks, looking up at her.

"I will," she says. She cups his cheek in her hand and he can't help but smile at her.

"Thank you."

 

When he gets back to their room Finn is there, sitting on his bed, his hands clasped, staring off into nothingness with a dazed look on his face.

"Hey buddy, you alright?" Poe frowns. "Something happen while I was gone?"

"Wha – oh, Poe, hey," Finn says, looking up at Poe with a bright smile. "I – uh. I talked to one of the veterans today. The – Tagru introduced me."

"Oh. So, how'd it go?" Poe asks, trying to sound casual. He sits down on the bed next to Finn and Finn turns, pulls his leg up, so he can look at Poe.

"I don't know. We talked a lot. About ... everything. But I think it went well." He sounds not quite sure, contemplating, like he's still mulling over the new information. "He said something – about how he could never move around the way he does without his cane." Finn is frowning, sounds more like he's talking to himself than to Poe. "That it makes him ... free." He looks up at Poe then. "I'd never thought about it like that," he admits.

Poe doesn't know what to say so he just puts a reassuring hand on Finn's shoulder and when Finn leans into him it's not hard to let himself be pulled into a hug.

"Thank you," Finn mumbles into his shoulder.

"Anytime, pal. Anytime."

They stay like that for a long time, Finn's body heat seeping through the layers of Poe's clothes until he feels it in his heart. He's stroking slow circles into the skin of Finn's neck when Finn shifts just a little and lets out a tiny groan of pain.

Poe sits back at once, holding Finn at arm's length as if he can find out what's wrong if he just looks at Finn hard enough.

"It's nothing," Finn assures him, unconvincingly.

"It's your back," Poe says, half a question.

"Just a little stiff."

"C'mon, let's lie down," he says, tugging at Finn's hand until Finn shifts around so he's lying behind Poe, curled around the curve of his body.

They sleep like that more often than not, Poe's bed on the other side of the room empty and forgotten as he and Finn fall asleep, breathing in sync.

 

"Poe," a whisper curls its way into Poe's dreams. "Poe," a gentle hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake. Poe blinks up at Finn sitting on the edge of the bed, a blinking communications device in hand. "Poe, General Organa wants to talk to me," he says urgently.

"Now?" Poe asks, trying to wake up properly. "What time's it?"

"No, no. Not now," Finn says with a little grin. "It's – uh," he checks the time on the comm. "Just after 5."

"AM?" Poe groans, turning his face into the pillow. "Come back to bed, Finn," he whines, tugging at Finn's elbow until he complies and Poe can bury himself in the warmth of Finn's embrace.

 

Later, after the sun has actually risen, they make their way to the command center where Leia is waiting on them.

Finn sets a steady pace but Poe can see the little winces Finn tries to hide that mean he's in pain.

"Come, we'll go somewhere a little more private," she says, waving for them to follow her. She leans on a wooden cane as she walks and Poe can see Finn glancing at it, trying not to stare but obviously noticing. Which is probably just what Leia was going for, the sly fox. 

She leads them to a separate area with a large table where Poe knows the leaders meet to confer.

Poe pulls out a chair for Finn and when Finn shoots him a look Poe only grins and does the same for Leia. See Finn, not treating you different, I'm just a gentleman.

"Poe, thank you, dear. You can leave us now," Leia says and Poe nods.

As he's walking away he can hear her turning towards Finn.

"So, Finn, tell me everything you know about the First Order..."

 

All throughout the day Poe finds his thoughts straying, back to Leia and Finn. Leia is so very much like the grandmother he never met and he can't help but desperately hope that she and Finn get along. He feels like a teenager all over again.

He remembers how scary it was for him, meeting the famous General Organa for the first time, back when he'd come to the resistance.

Of course, she'd become much less scary after they'd gotten moderately drunk and commiserated about the awkward moments that came from being royalty in a place where that meant jack shit. He's pretty sure that's not about to happen with Finn, though.

Looking back, Poe is so grateful that Leia did what she did for him, guided him, mentored him, and yeah it's kind of an open secret that he's a little bit her favorite, but it was so much more than that. She was a tiny piece of home away from home, if only because of the way he could see his mother, his aunts, his grandfather, in the way she carried herself.

_ And _ she was a big part of the reason people accepted him as Poe Dameron as quickly as they did. (Her stern look is still much more intimidating than his, even though he practices in front of the mirror and all.)

 

When Finn returns to their quarters he's smiling, small and absentminded, but he looks happier than he has ever since he woke up.

"Poe!" he greets when Poe looks up from where he's cleaning his blaster.

"Hey, buddy," Poe can't help the goofy grin that spreads across his face.

Finn's smile widens in response. "Do you wanna head down to the mess hall?"

"Nah," Poe says, puts his blaster down and wipes his hands on the rag he was using. "I'm cooking today."

"You?" Finn asks, and he looks absolutely adorable with that little, confused frown on his face. Poe just barely resists pinching his cheeks. "You've never cooked before."

"Yeah but today's a special day, isn't it?" He grins as he passes Finn on his way to the small kitchenette area, clapping him on the shoulder.

"It is?" Finn trails after him.

"Two months since the day we first met," he nods, leaning up against the counter, trying to seem casual instead of overeager.

"Oh," Finn blinks. "I didn't realize, I'm sorry." And it's so very  _ Finn _ to apologize for something like this, it makes Poe's heart glow with fondness.

"It's not something important, don't worry. I just thought I'd do something nice for once."

"It's important to you," Finn says, simple as that. "And you do plenty of nice things for me. Everything is nice with you." He says it so easy, Poe thinks he probably doesn't realize what it sounds like to Poe and it kills him.

"You'll get sick of me eventually," Poe grins, trying to brush it off as a joke but Finn continues in his earnest, intense way that makes Poe's neck go hot.

"No, I won't."

Poe flusters for a moment before he turns to the stove. if he just focuses on the food this weird, charged moment will pass and everything will be back to how he knows it.

"I'm afraid dinner is heated up, cause this stove really isn't big enough to cook on so I had to bribe the cooks into letting me use the mess hall kitchen."

"I bet it tastes fantastic," Finn says. "How can I help?"

"Nope," Poe shakes his head, "go," he waves with his spatula, "sit down and look pretty."

"Are you sure?"

"Go, go," Poe shoos. he reminds himself of his grandfather. He'd shooed Poe off to sit on one of the high stools, too high for him as young as he was, every time Poe had woken him up, hungry and craving a midnight snack, and every time his grandfather had led him down the big, empty halls of the castle and down to the kitchen. They'd sat across from each other at the counter, sipping hot cocoa and eating heated up leftovers from dinner. In those moments, hidden away in the dark of night, it had always felt like it was just him and his grandfather, and Poe had loved every second of it.


End file.
